Monday, June 25, 2012

It’s weird to think that it’s been 12 years since I really
gave much thought to this. I’ve been using the name so casually for almost
everything I do that I never would have expected it to be my moniker.

It was
April of 2000 when I was brought back for my second and final season as the bat
boy for the Bakersfield Blaze. (For those who don’t know, the Blaze was an
affiliate of the Giants at the time, and a few notables from that roster
include: Carlos Valderrama, Guillermo Rodriguez, Cody Ransom and Joe Nathan.)
However, with the new season, came a lot of fresh faces and a lot of attitudes
to back them up. The most notable coming from a kid named Fletcher Lee.

Now, the
thing about Fletcher Lee is that he was a bit strange. I don’t mean that in a
bad way, just in the same sense that most people find me a bit strange at
times. Fletch, as I called him, was born and raised in Hawaii
and unfortunately never made it beyond Bakersfield
as a pitcher. But for the time he was there, he made everyone laugh by talking
like John Wayne, prancing around like a ballerina, and he would routinely prank
the other players. From what I recall, the one thing he had going for him was
that he was a family friend of then manager Lenn Sakata, as they were both from
Honolulu. One
thing that I will never forget about Sakata is that he is the answer to a very
important trivia question: “Who was the shortstop for the Orioles when Cal
Ripken, Jr. started his consecutive games played streak?” Anyway, Fletch was
one of the new pitchers that year and clearly one of the few guys who had no
idea who I was the first time I walked into the clubhouse that year.

“Who the
fuck is this kid!?” he yelled, as I was clearly the youngest person there.

“I’m the
bat boy. Who the fuck are you?” I replied.

Only the
few guys who returned from last season really laughed at my retort, as they all
learned a lot about me and the way I interact with people from the previous season. Despite
their age and talent, I never let any of the players or managers push me around
or think they were better than me. (Notable others I told to fuck off and/or gave
the finger to: Keith Comstock (jokingly), Eric Byrnes (jokingly), Robby Thompson (jokingly), Adam Piatt and my
favorite, Bobby Bonds (definitely not jokingly).)

Fletch just kind of stood there for a moment and stared
me down as I went to my locker. As I put my stuff away, he slapped me on the
ass and walked into the shower. Kind of an odd start to our relationship, I
know, but with me, a lot of encounters start like that.

To really
understand the rest of the story, please take a moment to really analyze the
photo below.

Yes, that’s
me with the spiky, blonde hair. And yes, I thought it looked awesome at the
time. Moving on… I was an avid surfer back then. Fletch, as it turned out, was
as well. I mean, yah, he’s Hawaiian, but I usually don’t stereotype. Anyway,
once he found out I was he took a bit of a shine toward me. We’d talk about
awesome spots to go to on the coast and I’d always bring him photos when they
got back from a trip on the road as I didn’t travel with the team. Toward the
end of May Fletch started doing something more regularly when I walked into the
clubhouse. As I stepped in, he’d jump on the bench in front of his locker,
crouch and say, “Shaka bro” to me with his right hand in the form of shaka
(hang loose). He even did on a random night after a game when we both happened
to be at a Food 4 Less across from Sam Lynn Ballpark. Everyday for a little
over a month he would do that, everyday until the middle of June when I got to
the stadium early. Fletch had just been released by the Giants and only a few
of us were there when he received the news.

This wasn’t
the first time I had seen or known anyone to get demoted, called up or even
cut, but it was one of the few that I will never forget. Sakata was trying to
console him, to let him know everything was going to get better and that he was
going to catch on with another team. Fletch was in tears, which ultimately made
me well up a bit, and a few of the other pitchers gave him hugs and well
wishes. I then went over to him, gave him a hug and said my goodbye… at which
he then jokingly told me to fuck off and get some work done. That was the last
time I ever saw him, and the last time he played professional baseball.

The “Brodie”
part of the story is a bit shorter and confusing to me. That same year, when
all the bleached hair grew out and was cut off, a few of my high school chums
said I looked like Jason Lee, the actor/professional skateboarder.
Specifically, they said I looked like his character from Mallrats, Brodie. At the time I didn’t see much of a connection;
however, nowadays I kind of do. But I’ll let you be the judge.

Since those
days I’ve combined the two nicknames I had bestowed upon me and made them join
forces for the ultimate badass user name ever! No… the main reason I started it
was as a tribute to Fletch. As I got older I got lazy and decided to use
Shakabrodie for everything. To be honest, I never would have expected so many
people to take a shine to it. I thought I was just being silly and paying
tribute to an old friend.

Box Score

My name is Benjamin Christensen and I am a recent graduate of University of Oregon in Eugene. I have two Bachelor's Degrees in News/Editorial Journalism and Magazine Journalism with a minor in English. I've been writing ever since I was a kid, mostly doing creative writing, but I've been going strong since I was 15 when I was able to land an interview with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons for the high school newspaper I was working for in Bakersfield, California. From that moment of awesomeness I knew that doing something that involved writing and sports was my way in life.
I am probably best known for being a cast member of Season 2 of the MLB Fan Cave. You know, the awesomely bearded guy with all the tattoos. I have an in depth knowledge and perspective on baseball and love to immerse myself into the culture of the game with the fans, players and newcomers.